English Language & Literature

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Month: March 2017

2nd March, the biggest and most tragic event occurred in Great Britain. A tragedy which left many speechless and lost for words. How the citizens were meant to cope with the news of the greatest of monarchs passing away, was just out of the question. Queen Elizabeth did countless things for her country, we shall never forget her kindness and love that she showered upon us all. Not once did she make any of us feel like outsiders no matter our race, sexuality or gender , she made Great Britain feel like home to all. That’s what’s most upsetting is will we ever have a monarch who will be able to take her position and respect it in the same way.

Popular support for the Queen was increasing after the difficult 1990s. Throughout her reign, the Queen represented continuity and surety, though she accepted the monarchy must attempt to renew itself. She undertook a 40,000-mile tour of the Commonwealth. She said her own “association with the Commonwealth has taught me that the most important contact between nations is usually contact between its peoples.” The Queen kept her people united as one, she was a woman of integrity who sought to achieve equality and fairness for the things that mattered in life. Our majesty was never one of the monarchs, the flaunted her fame, her only aim was to keep the people of her country happy.

She was found dead on her bed in the Palace, it has been said that she passed away in her sleep without any pain. The personal maid of the castle gave her statement to what she witnessed. These are her words to what occurred in the Palace when she found the queen dead. The witness was very distressed whilst saying these words.

The maid of the house, went into the Queens room to serve Breakfast to only find the Queen was still in bed which was very unusual because she was always up by 8:00. She said she rushed in to Mrs Middleton’s room and told her that the queen had still not awaken. Mrs Middleton giggled at the maid and told her she was overreacting and that the Queen probably just overslept. The maid went back in to the room however she was hesitant to awake the Queen, as she thought she was in deep sleep so she just left the room.

Later on in the afternoon, the king found the Queen still asleep in the room so he shook her to wake her up. The Queen wouldn’t wake up, the king started panicking and start yelling for help. Whilst, he was yelling he checked her pulse and there was nothing. The queen was rushed into hospital but the doctors said it was too late to do anything. I , myself am so gobsmacked , what must have been going through the kings head whilst finding his wife lying down without breathing. Such a traumatic event to experience, all my prayers and thoughts go to king.

She was a week from celebrating her 100th of reigning as the monarch , what a shame and depressing time for those who were preparing to celebrate. A loss and sadness which nobody could describe.

The monarchy was shattered to many small pieces , their beloved ruler was found lifeless and to add fuel to the fire some blamed Kate for telling the maid that the Queen just overslept! What if the Queen could have survived if Kate hasn’t made such a hasty decision.

Their is so much controversy going around concerning Kate. Do you think she is the wrong? This has affected King Philip greatly in an extremely negative way. Guess we will never know, but what has happened has happened and at this time instead of the media stirring , we need to be sympathetic towards the royal family as this is not easy for anyone. We send all our love and prayers to the family and the public. Through this difficult time we can see the public pulling together, this is an amazing site to see because this is exactly what the Queen would have wanted after ruling for a long time, that her values are instilled in the people of her country.

Shailene woodley was found dead in bed this morning in her suburban home, California. She died peacefully in her sleep. At peace with nature and at peace with herself. A half-filled glass jar of fresh spring water, lay at her bedside table.

She was a woman of integrity, who sought to be compatible with nature and achieve justice for the things that mattered in life. Fame did not deter her from venturing to the lush hills of southern California to fulfil the mighty task of collecting spring water, so great was her distrust for the tap water of her $235,000 home. Fame and being cast in a bad light were the least of her concerns, even after she was imprisoned for protesting on an illegal site, who’s multi-billionaire owners were only too determined to cleanse the site from indigenous tribes and wealth did not prevent her from dismissing doctors with a single wave of her hand, instead, arming herself with the most repulsive of herbal remedies.

Though she had fame and fortune, she managed to cling to modesty and integrity, and hold fast to her morals. To her, it did not matter what people thought of her, but only how true she was being to herself, because behind that dazzling Oscar dress, and the towering heels was a different identity: one that was wholly unafraid of being different.

It is true to say that there was only one Shailene Woodley in Hollywood.

Baloo, the household hamster, was found dead this morning in his three bedroom cage. He died with a row of peanuts ad grapes b his side, eating what he enjoyed right up until the end.
For many this will come as a shock, however for some it will not. Those who knew him personally will tell you of he constant enthusiasm he showed in everything and anything he was involved in. This excitement could become too much as he often found himself going into uncontrollable frenzies therefore is sudden death was somewhat inevitable. After being born and named after the great bear himself, Baloo from the Jungle Book, he was brought into a caring and loving family. Many outsiders my view his death as a result of the sheer pressure that came with this great name, as he was unable to follow the footsteps of such a creature.

He often spoke easily and indeed freely of his name making it very clear that he understood its origins. Ultimatly however it was is own self doubt and the pressure of society that drove or young hamster into the abyss. But we must not be sad, we must celebrate the eventful life that he endured and say ‘God bless my friend’.

Beth Rigby, Sky News Senior Political Correspondent, recently put her online trolls on blast after they continuously slammed her for her accent. Her colleague, The Times’ Oliver Kamn, stood with her in support stating that we need regional accents, like Beth’s, in the Media to express the diversity within out society today.

The media is our main source of information. It’s where we find out what’s what. Therefore it should be accessible to everyone which is exactly what having regional accents in the media does. Having regional accents on the news or radio, make us who are sat at home, which is not in London (yes, we do exist), feel as though we can watch and understand the news and that we’re not in fact just listening to on a conversation amongst a group of men who all attended public school.

The fact that some of us feel that, when theses regional accents have such little representation in the media because that so called BBC accent or Estuary English is so over represented, that we are excluded from having equal access to the media can be linked to a researcher’s, Labov’s study. Labov’s Martha’s vineyard study showed how accent, as well as dialect, could be used to excluded others within society or even include by identifying as a strong separate group. Which is exactly what it feels like for us with regional accents watching the news for example. We don’t have the ‘cool’ accent of Estuary English therefore we can’t be represented in the media ‘group’, it is like high school really.

Not only do regional accents make the media feel more accessible and relatable but it also makes it feel friendlier. Let’s face it you can’t really beat Christine Bleakley’s warm and welcoming northern Irish accent on day time TV, it makes you feel like you should be sat with a cuppa and a few biccies.

Now I’m not saying that there should be a regional accent takeover of the media, although that would be nice, I am just saying that those who do have regional accents and work in the media should be able to do so without being persecuted for who they are. People should also stop being such English language pedants, it’s annoying. the media should represent all of society not just a small proportion.

Well known Sky News Political Correspondent, Beth Rigby, has had many negative comments on the way she speaks, not like they’d get away without abuse over their spelling ‘electrocution’ instead of ‘elocution’. The fellow friend of the one in question, Oliver Kamm, has joined her clique by arguing that the media should have more regional accents due to them being more inclusive, diverse and relatable?

As the media, in this technological age, is always in our faces, the debate on whether it should include private school Londoners or everyday working class accents from good old Bradford, is growing almost as fast as kids are getting IPhones. Shouldn’t it represent us? We are the ones who are payin’ for it. Why should people have to follow English Language theorist – Labov’s research and ‘converge’ their accent when it is a normal and ordinary thing that everyone has?

The time of BBC English is gone so why shouldn’t it be replaced with the wide spread of accents available in the UK. The TV personalities we have all grown to love such as Christine Bleakly and Cheryl Cole, represent people from all over Britain as all people watch TV (even if you deny it) and should feel ‘included’ and not ‘excluded’ shown in theorist – Ives Bradford and South London study. Only pedants care whether someone pronounces the ‘-ng’ the ‘correct’ way. Even the BBC’s governing body admitted that “The media is too London Centric” but why do people have such a big problem with it?

Maybe these accents are ‘unfashionable’ or ‘unattractive’ but these are part of everyday culture! Being surrounded by them is normal and these accents would not be any different if they were on TV. Beth Rigby’s Estuary English is not to be questioned as she does not choose to code switch but instead talks in the way that she always has. It is easy to understand, inviting and friendly, isn’t that what people want to hear when they wake up? Why don’t people spend more time correcting people who use the wrong ‘you’re/your’ which is an actual problem for the English Language, instead of an everyday accent?

Journalist Oliver Kamm was pro-Beth Rigby, Sky News’ senior political correspondent, when she was criticised for her use of Estuary English. Surely the media should reflect all accents?

Kamm describes the condemning of speech due to accent or dialects and not on the grounds of articulacy as unacceptable. All members of society contribute towards the upkeep of the media, whether that be through the licence fees or the simple task of buying a newspaper , and so it is essential that accents cater to all individuals for the media to represent us. Take Ant and Dec for example; both from the toon, both a big aspect of the media and both well-loved by many. No matter where you’re from, you and your hometown own the media.

Similarly, Pat Glass too criticised older Tories for deliberately mocking women MPs for their northern accents, stating “What I found is if a woman gets to speak, particularly women with an accent, then there is orchestrated barracking.”

Sir John Reith, the first director-general of the BBC, believed passionately in the role of public-service broadcasting in spreading “correct” English. In modern society, it is a must that individual should be chosen in regard to how much they know or say, and not the way that they say it.

Oliver Kamm, a journalist for The Times, has recently come to the support of Sky News’ Senior Political Correspondent Beth Rigby, who has been criticised due to her regional accent.

Rigby’s accent consists of Estuary English features; a language full of contractions, such as ‘innit’, and g’clippings. Her accent was heavily mocked over social media, with some even stating for her to have “electrocution lessons”. Maybe this commenter ought to have spelling lessons first before trying to make bold statements. Isn’t the media meant to reach out its audiences? This would be more efficient if everyone on the television didn’t have the same monotone voice.

Kamm himself has responded to these comments made upon Rigby’s speech, stating linguistic prejudices should be the least of our worries, especially now in 21st Century Britain. Can we honestly not think of anything else to complain about other than accents? Scholars of sociolinguistics have in fact cleared the air on the ‘problems’ with not pronouncing -ing in some accents – going all the way back to the 1930s, it was actually seen as more refined and a feature of proper pronunciation to not pronounce the single sound appearing on the ends of words, such as wantin’, talkin’ and goin’. Having people in the media with accents similar to each of our own, gives a more relatable feeling as to what has been said. It doesn’t show the information as being untrustworthy or unreliable, but instead gives off a sense of diversity. Accents do not hold positions of intelligence – Beth Rigby still uses standard English in her work, however when read out, it sounds slightly different to those RP newsreaders.

In contrast to this, is the factor of whether or not what has been said, has been understood. Regional accents can be difficult to understand, suggesting why there is a lack of TV personalities or newsreaders with a strong accent. The First Director-General of the BBC, Sir John Reith, believes in spreading “correct” English – so passionately, he established the BBC Advisory Committee on Spoken English. To Rigby’s critics, her Estuary English accent, is not proper English. Even males with authoritarian positions in politics have diverged their accents; not going to an all boys public school could seriously cause their accent to be mocked (cough cough Tony Blair).

Accents are part of our identity, they make us up as our own key individual. Every English speaker has an accent of their own – so why do we mock? Is it to prove a reflection on correctness, or simply, people don’t have anything better to do.

Beth Rigby, Sky’s senior political correspondent recently got criticised for the way she delivered the news, like it even matters, and The Times, Oliver Kamm stuck up for her, and said that we need to hear more regional accents within the media.

I believe this is true, I do agree with Oliver Kamm as we all need an equal representation amongst the Media, as after all, we are all consumers of the Media. If I watch the news and I am able to hear a familiar voice such as someone from my area, it would make the delivery of the news more warm, friendly and relatable. When I watch the news and I don’t want it delivered in a boring monotone accent.

Accents for some do not matter, but for some they are a means of judging someone on a first impression. People can have different stereotypes of different accents. Birmingham accents can be considered to sound quite dense, whereas Scottish accents can sound quite aggressive at times, especially Glaswegian accents, but these need to be represented in the media more. BBC English is long gone, popular TV show personalities such as Ant and Dec, famous and well loved Geordies have had a career in the entertainment industry for years and years, no one seemed to mind about their accents so why should it matter if newsreaders read in Received Pronunciation 24/7, give it a rest….get a Yorkshire lad on the job.

This has also been the case within the Houses of Parliament. Pat Glass, Labour MP, Accused the Tories of deliberately mocking women and their northern accents. The women are ridiculed just because they didn’t go to an all boys public school and Pat Glass says that this shouldn’t be the case. Just as everyone should be equally represented in the media, they should have an equal representation of people from all over the country in parliament, not just posh boys from down south.

To conclude I believe an equal representation of accents within the media is very much needed, people need to know that there is more than just Estuary English when it comes to accent.

Students were asked to write an op-ed response to the issues raised by Oliver Kamm in The Times about criticism faced by Beth Rigby, Sky News’ Senior Political Correspondent, over her accent, especially dropping gs in her Estuary twang.